Profiles of reading performance after exiting Tier 2 intervention

A fundamental assumption of multi-tiered systems of support is the bidirectional movement of students between tiers. In comparison to research on when to intensify instruction, less attention has been paid to the validity of decisions to exit students from supplemental supports. We used data from 554 third-grade students who met the criteria to be exited from a Tier 2 reading fluency intervention to answer two research questions. First, we used latent profile analysis to evaluate whether distinct profiles of student responding would emerge based upon initial skill level and intervention duration. Second, we evaluated whether the proportion of students who passed the end-of-year benchmark differed between profiles. Results favored a three-profile solution with a Below Average Start/Average Response; Average Start/Average Response; and an Above Average Start/Fast Response. The pooled mean proportion of students who did not achieve proficiency on the end-of-year benchmark assessment equaled 0.45, 0.33, and 0.13 across the three profiles, respectively. A series of χ² tests indicated the between-profile differences were statistically significant (p <.05). The results of this study suggest that there may be distinct profiles amongst students who show positive response and exit Tier 2 reading fluency interventions.